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Notes / Commercial Description:
Sleepy Time is an imperial stout that has been fermented with Belgian yeast and aged on oak staves. Tastes of chocolate, coffee & vanilla are complemented with American hops and a true Belgian character in the finish.

Pours a dark black with an off-white head. Surprisingly clear for a stout when held up to the light. Not a bad looking beer, but you'd never guess it was a stout. That's all I'm saying.

The aroma is too subtle for words.

Tastes like liquid marigold's. Somewhat cheesy. Inelegantly bitter. Roasty. Cold coffee. Black Dutch licorice. Oh man, this needs work. I'm not sure it's a stout, it's certainly not what I have come to expect from an Imperial stout, and the Belgian aspect clashes big time. I'm assuming they're using the same yeast they dropped in the bogwater. It tastes similar but it worked way better in the latter. Alcohol is incredibly well hidden. I agree with Rob's assessment than plum flavors come out as it warms and, indeed, there is a subtle shift from herbal roastiness to fruitiness as you go along.

It's not a drain pour but totally not something I would recommend trying or which should take up valuable brewing resources that could be better used brewing the Beaver River IPEh.

A - Poured dark brown and settled black with two fingers of fluffy light brown head.

S - Big roast and Belgian yeast aromas up front with some chocolate in the background. Not getting any of the oak.

T - Belgian yeast dominates the palate up front and throughout. Some roast, chocolate, and a very faint touch of oak come through as well but the Belgian yeast flavours completely overpower and make this difficult to drink.

Pours almost black, some mahogany highlights. Few fingers of fluffy and soapy offwhite head, no lacing but fantastic retention. Nose mild chocolate notes, some tripel-esque esters, some pear and a raw banana peel scent becomes really apparent with warmth. Taste has this banana peel again, milk chocolate, mild green apple and vanilla. Some harsh alcoholic qualities becomes evident halfway through the sip, and burns. Odd for a relatively low ABV (in terms of being imperial). Lacks a degree of body here, and I find this to be a very confusing offering overall. Some qualities of a tripel and imperial stout are blended in a less than impressive way, lacking coherence. I was befuddled by this, and was left indifferent and unimpressed. I recall having this when it initially debuted at Volo last summer and being significantly more impressed , but either by a function of palate development or otherwise, I can't say I feel the same way about this now as I did then.

I picked up a bottle at the brewery when it was released but haven't had the time to review until now.

Poured a deep black with a big light brown head that settled to a small ring of foam. It left some lacing behind.

The smell is light with scents of an earthy coffee. Not much else really. The taste has a bit more.. coffee predominantly but there are some bittering hops towards the end. I get virtually no fruit flavours except for a touch towards the end. It's not terribly complex and the flavours that are there don't really jell together all that well.

Got this one from Hopsolutely this past summer. Thanks for all the treats guys!

From a 600ml bottle into a snifter. Love the bottles these guys use.
Batch no. 3574
Bottled 15 May 2014
IBU: 38

APPEARANCE: Pours out clear dark brown and yields a three finger, medium looking, creamy, light tan head with excellent retention. Head slowly fades to a full wisp and sticks to the sides of the glass a bit. Transparent dark brown body with lower levels of carbonation evident. A half wisp remains leaving dots of lacing down the sides. Head is fine, but the body is just too clear and light colored for the style.

SMELL: Roasted and spicy notes with a touch of chocolate on the nose. Quite mild; had hoped for more character here.

TASTE: Lightly roasted flavors and some spicy yeast up front; definitely Belgian in style. Some caramel and roasted notes with touches of milk chocolate at the swallow. A medium but lingering finish of caramel, roasted barley, with spicy clove and yeast notes a well. Touches of bitter chocolate is there in the finish as well. Flavorful and interesting enough.

PALATE: Medium body and slightly higher carbonation. A bit light on the palate, creamy enough, goes down fine with a bit of a scratch at the swallow and finishes slightly dry.

OVERALL: A solid beer, but Belgian stouts never seem to know what they’re doing. They’re neither roasted and chocolate heavy in flavor, nor spicy and fruity enough like Belgian strong dark ales. They’re kind of caught in the middle somewhere. This one is interesting enough, but doesn’t really come out boldly and make a statement. Check it out if you’re a fan of the style, but not if you’re craving a strong stout or a Belgian dark ale. Thanks again Hopsolutely! The Beau’s pair was a lot of fun.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of light coffee notes with some medium black chocolate bitter notes also discernable. Taste is a mix between some medium dry black chocolate notes with some light roasted malt notes which is well round off by some oat notes. Body is a bit light for style with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Not bad overall but a bit too thin for style while lacking some character. I also don’t get the Belgian yeast part of this beer.

Taste is similar, sweet up front, chocolate, some roast, caramel, a bit of dark fruit, oak, vanilla, alcohol, I like the fruit character but the oak was a touch astringent.

Mouthfeel is light bodied, almost thin, with rough carbonation, maybe not so much highly carbonated but not so well integrated. Some significant warmth going down. Won't roll with the big boys, but a good experiment.

Basically completley black, 1.5 fingers of tan head, good lace and retention. Smell is chocolatey with spice, belgian yeast is pretty in your face, orange peel like citrus is also here with a bit of sweet sugars as well. Taste is spicy, roast and anise, lightly sweet as well, a bit herbal with some coffee bitterness, spicy in the finish. Medium carbonation, medium bodied. Just OK, some interesting things going on here, and I could have another glass of this again but not something I would go out of my way for.

Enjoyed on-tap at Bar Volo, with the owner of Beaus. A complex aroma of coffee and yeast. Black with a notion of head. Medium mouthfeel, or even a tad below for its style. A story in chocolate, and yeast. Very drinkable, more of a single stout really. A touch of sourness mid-sip.

Overall - I'm a huge Beau's fan and a huge stout fan and so far this beer isn't cutting it for me. Don't get me wrong its a good stout its just I expected better balance from a beaus beer. The fruit stands above the chocolate and coffee in the middle of the beer and thats just not enjoyable for my palate. Oh well I guess sooner or later youll find a beer from any brewery you'll like less than their others. Still an interesting beer and worth a try.